Reggae and Dancehall Icon King Jammy to perform at Coney Island Reggae On The Boardwalk

Producer, soundman, and Jamaican music hall-of-famer King Jammy (Lloyd James) will perform at the final 2018 edition of Coney Island Reggae On The Boardwalk on Sunday, September 9, 2018 at 3 p.m., on the Coney Island Boardwalk at West 20th Street, Brooklyn, NYC. The Brooklyn Arts Council and VP Records are sponsors of the free event.

King Jammy is on a promotional tour to support Dennis Brown Tracks Of Life (VP/Greensleeves), a powerful new 15-song set of his productions of reggae icon Dennis Brown, which integrate Brown’s original vocals with new singers and deejays, including Damian Marley, Busy Signal, Bounty Killer, Protoje, Roman Virgo, Alborosie, Jesse Royal, Dre Island, and Aza Lineage.

The project is the second in a series of King Jammy’s projects to revisit original master recordings, the first was King Jammy Presents New Sounds Of Freedom, released by VP/Greensleeves in 2016.

“It’s always in my mind that I should revisit my catalog and redo some of the songs in a different style,” explains King Jammy. “The first one was Black Uhuru, because that’s the first album I made that created a punch in the music industry. I said I would visit the Black Uhuru first, and then, as Dennis Brown is my favorite singer, I would do Dennis Brown second … and on and on.”

In addition to his work with Black Uhuru, Half Pint, Johnny Osbourne, and Dennis Brown, King Jammy is best known for changing the Jamaican music landscape in 1985 with Wayne Smith’s megahit “Under Mi Sleng Teng.” The song marked the transition from the dominance of analog to the dominance digital production in Jamaica, ushering in the contemporary dancehall era.

King Jammy’s appearances on the global reggae soundsystem scene are highly anticipated, including many events with broadcaster/selector David Rodigan, including the recent Rototom Sunsplash in Spain and Rodigan’s 40th Anniversary celebrations.

King Jammy last performed in New York in 2011.

Coney Island Reggae On The Boardwalk is held four times each summer from June to September.